作者：Johnny Minkley

上周出现两组颇值得列入英国讽刺类杂志《侦探》“Number Crunching”栏目的数据：818万英镑——英国盒装游戏销量有史以来最低的周创收记录。1200万美元——免费iOS游戏《CSR Racing》第一个月的创收。

CSR Racing from appadvice.com

我们谈论的是传统行业令人不快的匹敌者，因为游戏媒介和主机游戏开发者的紧张关系日趋白热化（游戏邦注：从《边缘地带2》的“Girlfriend Mode”崩溃，到《刺客信条III》创意总监有欠考虑的“微妙种族主义”主张），而与此同时，NaturalMotion游戏的销量骤然上升，完全无需依靠深入的开发者访谈或杂志曝光。

随着新游戏时代的到来，传统领域却步履维艰，因为开发者展开内部争斗。显然，在此我过于简化，但对比情况非常突出。

“随着新游戏时代的到来，传统领域却步履维艰，因为开发者展开内部争斗。”

《CSR》成功的有趣之处在于，它有效证实NaturalMotion 首席执行官Torsten Reil上个月在Game Horizon大会上所阐述的观点，会上他表示，当前要在移动领域崭露头角的方式是坚持主机质量的制作标准。

这是旨在传递给游戏开发者的正面信息：你在技术上的专业知识和投入让你更具优势。《CSR》就是最佳证明，这款游戏出自Boss Alien之手，它是由尖端主机竞赛游戏开发商前Black Rock成员创建的工作室。

CSR Racing from freeappsking.com

我们都目睹Epic通过《无尽之剑》及其续集所取得的成就，这多半是iOS平台最众所周知的“AAA”游戏。作为游戏领域所有硬件制造商的愉快技术伙伴，Epic较早涉足此领域——其《虚幻引擎》的iOS演示内容“Epic Citadel”通过苹果获得巨大曝光度就是最佳证明。

但由于最新手机硬件逐步提供杰出的图形化表现（更新速度和游戏机领域相反），越来越多具备相应工具的开发者开始转投这些小型设备。就如我的博学同事Rich Leadbetter在他的文章《what to expect from iPhone 5》中谈到的，“未来12个月里，手机图像技术将最终赶上当前主机的性能。”

最重要的是，在多数用户看来，手机设备似乎已实现此目标。当游戏逐步变得和EA iOS游戏《实况赛车》同样杰出时，这就不足为奇了。因此问题就变成：随着手机游戏的表现日益和AAA主机游戏不相上下，它们是否会吸引更多开发者？

“因此问题就变成：随着手机游戏的表现日益和AAA主机游戏不相上下，它们是否会吸引更多开发者？”

我是上周索尼Gamescom新闻发布会1200名强大观众阵容中的一员。当Media Molecule Alex Evans向我们呈现《Tearaway》（游戏邦注：这是工作室最新的Vita专属IP）的杰出演示内容时，我和其他人一样倒吸一口气。

当听说索尼的某优秀工作室正致力于移动平台时，我也倒吸一口气。毕竟，《神秘海域》不是由Naughty Dog制作，而是Bend；Nihilistic的《Resistance: Burning Skies》由Nihilistic完成，而不是Insomniac；《Killzone: Mercenaries》由Sony Cambridge制作，而不是Guerrilla；《Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified》由Nihilistic完成，而不是Treyarch。

PlayStation Vita是最通用的游戏设备，它的一个突出特点是，承诺带来家庭主机风格的游戏，绝不进行妥协，很多主流开发者似乎都对基于此平台制作游戏不感兴趣，很有趣吧？PSP问题持续重复。

好吧，这不是那么有趣。这里自然存在消耗新生代资源的诱惑，但商业现实也不容忽视：虽然索尼在Gamescom展示的内容非常稳固，但其手机设备计划能否成功尚有待揭晓。大型游戏作品的开发者不愿全力投入此平台，他们认为其他开发者也不会这么做，这致使他们损及自己的发展前景。

智能手机领域不存在这类问题。硬核领域人士嘲讽道，“但你将无法通过手机设备制作出适当的游戏作品。”关于此，我想说的是，为什么AAA游戏需要控制器，或是鼠标和键盘？

“虽然我很难想象未来自己可能无法通过控制器体验深刻复杂的游戏，但我能够想象未来这可能变成细分市场。”

我很欣赏Denki Colin Anderson上周在Dundee BAFTA座谈会所作的类比。他解释为什么自己觉得在未来1-2代时间里，主机将不再成为主流内容，他突出街机领域所面临的困境：只要家用主机技术跟上，维持和发展投币式电动游戏机就会变得极其专门化，变成定制的奇妙装置。

虽然我很难想象未来自己无法通过控制器体验深刻复杂的游戏，但我能够想象未来这可能变成细分市场。

这一情况不会立即出现，OnLive业务周末遭遇的灾难充分说明，我们尚未做好充分准备，迎接未来带给我们的一切。PlayStation 4 和Xbox XX明年将轰动问世，游戏看起来会非常不错；但隐藏在愉快欢笑背后的是对前方发展道路的担忧——当开发者跳至制作HD版本时，他们并没有注意到这方面的担忧。

NaturalMotion Reil上周在谈及他所谓的“手机社交游戏第二春”时表示，“这更多围绕创造性，更多关于视觉质量，显然还有玩法。我们觉得我们在此抢占先机，因为我们更早涉猎此内容。”

随着有关主机未来的争论日益激烈化，《CSR Racing》之类的高端手机游戏将持续平稳收获丰厚收益。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转载，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

Racing Ahead: The Rise Of Triple-A Mobile Games

By Johnny Minkley

CSR Racing’s $12m iOS success is a welcome sign and a warning, writes Johnny Minkley

Two figures worthy of a ‘Number Crunching’ entry in British satirical magazine Private Eye popped up last week: £8.18m – the lowest week’s revenue ever recorded in the UK for boxed games sales. $12m – the revenue generated by free-to-play iOS title CSR Racing in its first month.While excuses were sought for the High Street’s miserable performance – from the summer software drought, to the Olympics – that hasn’t stopped consumers throwing easier-to-justify sums at Apple hand-over-fist.

And while we’re on the subject of uncomfortable parallels for the Old Industry, as tensions between the games media and console games makers run high (from Borderland 2′s ‘Girlfriend Mode’ debacle, to the Assassin’s Creed III creative director’s ill-considered allegations of “subtle racism”), sales of NaturalMotion’s title have soared without the slightest need for in-depth developer interviews or magazine covers.

As the new age of gaming flies, the old era flounders as everyone fights amongst themselves. I’m over-simplifying, clearly, but the contrasts are striking nonetheless.

“As the new age of gaming flies, the old era flounders as everyone fights amongst themselves.”

What’s interesting about CSR’s success is that it backs the point NaturalMotion CEO Torsten Reil made at last month’s Game Horizon conference, where he argued that the way to stand out in the mobile space today is by insisting on console-quality production values.

This was intended as a positive message to veteran games developers: your expertise and investment in technology gives you an edge. And CSR is the proof – developed by Boss Alien, a studio formed from the ashes of cutting-edge console racing game maker Black Rock.

We’ve all seen what Epic has achieved with Infinity Blade and its sequel, probably the most recognisably ‘triple-A’ experiences on iOS. As a cosy tech bedfellow of all hardware manufacturers in the games space, Epic generally gets in there early – as evidenced by the huge exposure it received from Apple for Epic Citadel, its Unreal Engine iOS demo.

But with the latest mobile hardware capable of serious graphical performance – iterating ever upwards at a rate alien to the console business – more and more developers with the means are going to town on those tiny screens. As my learned colleague Rich Leadbetter suggested in his piece on what to expect from iPhone 5, “within the next 12 months mobile graphics technology will finally catch up with the capabilities of the current-gen consoles.”

The thing is, to most consumers it already looks like it has. And when the games are starting to look as good as EA’s Real Racing 3 on iOS, it’s little wonder. So the question then becomes: as mobile games begin to match triple-A console games in performance, will they attract more of the creators of them?

” So the question then becomes: as mobile games begin to match triple-A console games in performance, will they attract more of the creators of them? ”

I was among the 1,200-strong crowd in Cologne last week for Sony’s Gamescom press conference. And I gasped along with everyone else as Media Molecule’s Alex Evans treated us to a superb demo of the enchanting Tearaway, the studio’s new, Vita-exclusive IP.

But I might have gasped as well at the revelation that one of Sony’s top studios was working on the portable platform. After all, Uncharted was handled not by Naughty Dog, but Bend; Resistance: Burning Skies by Nihilistic, not Insomniac; and still to come: Killzone: Mercenaries by Sony Cambridge, not Guerrilla; and Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified by Nihilistic, not Treyarch.

Now, considering PlayStation Vita is the most versatile gaming device ever created, and one of its main USP’s was the promise of home console-style gaming without compromise, isn’t it funny how many leading creators seem uninterested in making games for it? It’s the PSP problem repeating itself, second stick or not.

Well, okay, it’s not that funny. There’s the resource-sapping lure of the next gen, naturally, but the commercial reality cannot be ignored, either: as strong as Sony’s Gamescom content offering was, success remains far from assured for its handheld. And in being reluctant to truly commit to the platform, the creators of gaming’s biggest franchises are simultaneously hurting its prospects by effectively making it less likely others will.

No such concerns with smartphones. “But you’ll never be able to do proper games on a phone,” the hardcore perpetually sneer. To which I say, why does triple-A gaming require a controller, or a mouse and keyboard for that matter? Where’s the stone tablet with the words “Thou shalt point thy reticule with the right stick” angrily chiseled into it?

“While I cannot see – nor do I wish to imagine – a near-future in which I can’t play deep, complex games using a controller, I can envisage one in which that becomes an increasingly specialised niche.”

I was rather taken with an analogy made by Denki’s Colin Anderson during a BAFTA panel in Dundee last week. Explaining why he believed consoles wouldn’t be a mainstream proposition in a generation or two’s time, he highlighted the plight of the arcade business: once home console tech caught up, to survive and thrive coin-ops all became super-specialised, bespoke contraptions.

While I cannot see – nor do I wish to imagine – a near-future in which I can’t play deep, complex games using a controller, I can envisage one in which that becomes an increasingly specialised niche.

That’s not going to happen tomorrow, and as the calamities befalling the OnLive business over the weekend have shown, we’re not ready for all the future has to offer just yet. PlayStation 4 and Xbox Whatever-It’s-Called will be unveiled next year to great fanfare, and the games will look marvelous; but behind the beaming smiles on stage, there’ll be serious fears about the road ahead – fears that no-one felt when the leap to HD was made.

“It’s going to much more about creativity, much more about visual quality and obviously about gameplay, and we think that we have a head start on this because we started that sometime earlier,” NaturalMotion’s Reil told this site last week, discussing what he called “wave two of mobile social games”.

And as the debate over the future of consoles rages on, high-end mobile titles such as CSR Racing will quietly continue to make a fortune.（Source：gamesindustry）